Insulator.



W. E. SWEARINGEN. INSULATOR. APPLICATION man APR.2\, ma.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

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/l-/ WALTER E. SWEARINGEN, OF MONTGOMERY CITY, MISSOURI.

INSULATOR.

1`1l763618 Specification of Letters atent.

Application filed April 21, 1915.

T 0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, lVALTER E. SwEAR- wenn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Montgomery City, in the county of lrlontgomery anState of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful linprovements ininsulators; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and usefu improvements in insulators andmore particularly to that class adapted to be used for mountingtelephone, telegraph and electric wires upon posts or other devices, andmy object is to provide an insulator o lass, porcelain or similarsubstance having a slot extending transversely thereof for the receptionof the wire.

A further object is to provide an automatic locking mechanism forholding the wire against undue longitudinal movement. And a furtherobject is to provide a shield for preventing water and the like fromentering the slot in the insulator.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter set forth and moreparticularly pointed out in the accompanying specification.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application,Figure l is a side elevation of the insulator as applied to use. Fig. Qis a similar view thereof with the protecting portion of the shieldbroken away. Fig. 3 is an elevation at right angles to that shown inFig. l, and Fig. 4 is a top lan view of the insulator.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 indicates theinsulator which may be constructcd in any preferred manner an 2indicates the wire which is to be secured to the insulator. ln order toquickly attach the wire to the insulator and without having to bend thesame or otherwise mutilate the galvanized surface thereon, a slot 3 isextended inwardly from one edge of the insulator to a point adjacent thevertical center thereof and in order to securely lock the wire inengagement with the insulator and prevent undue lengthwise movement ofthe wire, a locking rocker al is introduced into a cavity 5 which isextended inwardly from one edge of the insulator l, said cavity ex-Patentcd Mar. 21, 1916. Serial No. 22,872.

tending above the slot 3 so that the locking rocker may be introducedabove the wire and rested thereon.

rhe locking rocker 4 is substantially semicylindrical, the curved facethereof resting upon the wire il and is composed of substances such asrough porcelain, lire clay or the like that will readily adhere to thewire when a lengthwise pull is given the wire, thus causing the lockingmechanism to partly rotate when one edge thereof is brought intoengagement with one wall of the cavity, the continuous pull upon thewire causing the edge of the locking rocker to seat in the corner formedby the liunction o the side and root walls of the cavity. hen the edgeof the locking rocker is firmly seated in the corner formed by the roofan side wall of the cavity, wedging pressure will be directed on thelocking rocker which will result in binding the wire between the bottomof the slot 3 and the locking rocker, thus holding the wire againstfurther longitudinal movement. By providing a lock of this class andarranging the slot in the insulator as shown, the wire can be stretchedfrom insulator to insulator as it is being installed and can be veryquickly attached to the insulator, as it is only necessary to introducethe wire into the slot and move the wire inwardly the full length of theslot, then draw the wire taut and introduce the locking, rocker into thecavity, and it will be readily seen that as soon as the pull upon thewire is released, the locking rocker will be wedged against the wire andsaid wire held against further longitudinal movement. It will likewisebe seen that should the wire break between any two of the insulators, itwill be prevented from slacking at a point beyond said insulator as thelocking rocker will immediately reverse an wedge the wire from travel inthe opposite direction.

ln order to prevent water, snow and the like, from entering the slot 3or cavity 5, a ring like shield G is placed around the insulator, saidshield having a flaring apron portion 7 which extends below vthe Slot inthe insulator and in view of the flare of the apron, water and the likeis carried away from the insulator and prevented from entering theopenings therein. edge of the apron is provided with notches 8 toaccommodate the wire Q', said notches being of such dimensions as tofully clear the 1?' t versely across the The shield 6 is preferablyconstructed of elastic material so that when stretched over theinsulator, it will readily adhere thereto, but it will be readilyunderstood that the shield may be formed of any suitable material.

In some instances the roof of the cavity 5 may be rounded or oval asshown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, thus aiding the locking rocker in itsoperation.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Aninsulator having a slot extending inwardly from one edge thereof toreceive a entered in said cavity and Wire,

one edge of the rocker engaging the wall of the cavity and Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing1 theWashington, D. C.

the curved face thereof adapted to engage said wire and hold the sameagainst undue longitudinal movement.

2. The combination with an insulator having a slot and a cavity therein,of an elastic ring like shield surrounding said insulator immediatelyadjacent the slot and cavity therein, said shield having at its loweredge a downwardly and outwardly flaring apron In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WALTER E. SW'EARIN GEN.

Vitnesses J. R. APPBURG, T. M. ULBRICHT.

Commissioner of Patents,

